Meaning and imagination are two intertwined themes throughout the writing career of philosopher and poet Owen Barfield, whose ideas inspired the likes of C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and T. S. Eliot. This symposium will explore these two central themes of Barfield's work, his debt to spiritual traditions from Neoplatonism to Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy, and his relevance to contemporary issues such as the meaning crisis and the secular age.

Join authors Mark Vernon and Jeffrey Hipolito together with poets Sir Ben Okri and Hilary Davies for a lively mix of talks, poetry readings and conversations exploring Barfield’s lasting influence, the nature of the imagination and man's eternal quest for meaning.

Guest Speakers:

Mark Vernon - psychotherapist, podcaster and author of Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination.

Jeffrey Hipolito - chairperson of the Owen Barfield Society and author of Owen Barfield’s Poetic Philosophy: Meaning and Imagination.

Sir Ben Okri - poet, novelist, playwright and author of Madame Sosostris and the Festival for the Broken-Hearted.

Hilary Davies - poet, essayist, translator and author of Compass Light.

Venue & Admission
Marylebone Theatre
35 Park Road, London NW1 6XT
£25 General Admission or £15 concession